Panthers advance in 1-4A opener

FULTON – Coaches do not like themselves or their teams looking ahead a game, especially during the postseason.
But now that the Amory Panthers have Tuesday’s 69-42 victory over the Tishomingo County Braves in the books at the Division 1-4A Tournament, Rob Browning can let his team look ahead to today’s matchup with Shannon.
Amory will face Shannon at 8 p.m.
“It will be a battle, and we match up pretty closely with them,” Amory head coach Browning said. “Tonight, I can still see things we need to be better at.
“Hopefully we’ll be ready.”
The Panthers (21-6) were ready against Tishomingo County, gradually pulling away in the first three quarters.
Hunter Pounders hit a 3-pointer for the Braves to tie the game at 8-8. From that point, Amory went on a 13-1 run that took the game into the second quarter for a 21-9 lead.
The Panthers led 38-18 at the half.
“Real early in the game, we were settling for jump shots,” Browning said. “We finally started penetrating, we had an easier time, and things started rolling from there.”
A trio of Panthers scored 15 points – Dario Robinson, Jaylon Fair, and Devin McIntosh. Pounders led Tishomingo with 14.
“The game against Shannon is not only important so that we can host a playoff game, but a win would give us a lot of confidence in my opinion, Browning said.
(G) Corinth 53, Tisho-mingo County 52: The Corinth Lady Warriors (11-13) held off a Tishomingo comeback to claim the win.
After leading by eight points to begin the fourth quarter, Corinth saw the Lady Braves pull within one point twice, the last on an A. C. Griffin three-point play with 57 seconds left. Then in the last 24 seconds, both teams combined to miss six free throws as Corinth held on.
Aspen Stricklen paced Corinth with 16, while Griffin tallied 35.